Harvard Lego Scandal: Former Computer Lab Manager Charged With Using $80,000 Of The School's Money To Buy Toys, Televisions

After four years of allegedly using a Harvard University-issued credit card to make unapproved purchases, a computer lab manager will have to answer for the charges. The university gave Shawn Bunn, 44, a card to make purchases for the lab; instead, he allegedly charged $80,000 on televisions, iPads, Lego toy sets and other goods for his personal use, the New York Daily News reported Thursday.

Bunn also allegedly used the card to buy a table saw and a garage disposal for himself, all of which Harvard University police found when they searched his home near Boston in Waltham, Massachusetts, Boston.com reported. In total, Bunn worked at Harvard for about 17 years.

During a financial review of the university, university officials discovered the illicit purchases, the Middlesex County District Attorney’s office said according to the Daily News. Bunn has been released from police custody, but he was issued a curfew. He is due to appear in court again in October for the charges.

He was required to give the university a receipt whenever he made a purchase of something that cost more than $75, along with a written explanation laying out why he made the purchase. Police later found that the receipts he gave the university didn’t match up with the items he had bought.

“This is a breach of trust by a school employee,” Marian Ryan, Middlesex County District Attorney, told Boston.com.

Harvard is one of the oldest universities in the country, founded in 1636, and is also one of the most prestigious colleges in the world. Harvard has about 21,000 students, including graduate and undergraduate, and has a faculty of about 2,400, according to the school’s website.